The Perils of Social Media in Co-ops.

As deposed Congressman Anthony Weiner’s sexting history attests, anything you put on social media is fair game. This fact of life in the digital age came home recently to a co-op shareholder in Queens who posted pictures of her kitchen renovation project on her Instagram page. When the vice president of the co-op board saw the Instagram post, he questioned whether the scope of work had conformed with the alteration agreement.

As a result, management re-inspected the kitchen renovation – even though the work had been inspected three times during the demolition and renovation process. Now the board is demanding that the shareholder hire an engineer – at a cost of $700 – to confirm that the renovation didn’t compromise the building’s structural integrity. Does a co-op board have the right to re-inspect an apartment based on images seen on social media? 

The short answer is yes, attorney Steven Sladkus, a partner at Schwartz Sladkus Reich Greenberg Atlas, tells the Ask Real Estate column in the New York Times. “If somebody wants to post something on an Instagram page that’s open to people and it exposes a potential problem,” he says, “too bad for them.” 

Most alteration agreements give co-op boards wide latitude over renovations, Sladkus adds, including the right to inspect without notice when workers are in the apartment and within a reasonable period after the work is completed. If, after seeing the Instagram post, the vice president of the board had reason to believe the alteration exceeded the agreed-upon scope of work, then he is not merely allowed to request a new inspection – he is obligated to do so. All co-op boards have a responsibility to investigate potential problems. The possibility that a portion of the building might collapse due to a faulty alteration definitely qualifies as a potential problem.